Patricia Timmons-Goodson (E.D. of N.C.)

Returned to PresidentJanuary 3, 2017

On April 28, 2016, President Obama nominated former Supreme Court of North Carolina Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson: to fill the longest unfilled federal judgeship in the nation. Timmons-Goodson would fill a U.S. Courts declared judicial emergency vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina which has been empty since Dec. 31, 2005. The American Bar Association gave her its highest rating: unanimously Well-Qualified.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) immediately declared that he would block a hearing on the nomination, which was ultimately returned to the President on January 3, 2017.

Sen. Burr previously blocked, without explanation, President Obama’s first nominee for the seat, who Sen. Burr had recommended, despite dozens of published Editorials, Op-Eds and Letters to the Editor urging him to submit the home-state Senator “blue slip” needed to allow a Judiciary Committee hearing.

Sen. Burr's position was in stark contrast to his many fellow Republican Senators who worked with the Obama White House and filled all court vacancies in their states and those who continued to do so throughout 2016: